The Port of Montreal plans to introduce incentives for carriers that use trucks which generate lower emissions, under plans revealed at a Climate Summit this week.
The port is looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% as of 2030, and be carbon-neutral by 2050.
Benefits such as exclusive time slots, express routes, or discounts on certain port fees will be made available to lower-emitting trucks by 2025, Montreal Port Authority spokesman Renee Larouche told Transport Routier magazine.
“From the outset, the [port authority] prefers adapted and progressive measures,” Larouche said
.
While the Port of Montreal considers a series of carrots to encourage the use of cleaner trucks, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has faced several delays in the rollout of a Rolling Truck Age Program that would ban vehicles with model years older than 2006.
Originally scheduled for September 2022, that was postponed until April 2023, and then pushed forward another nine months.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has criticized the measure, noting on Twitter that new trucks could cost $250,000 apiece.
Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra also turned to Twitter, but praised port authorities for listening to truckers and suspending the plan’s rollout.